Special meeting July 8

Sun, 07/07/2019 - 10:15pm

Lynda Clancy

Lincolnville Beach. (Photo by Lynda Clancy)

LINCOLNVILLE — The board of selectmen in Lincolnville is convening a special meeting at 6 p.m., July 8, at the Lincolnville Central School to possibly sign a two-year contract with North East Mobile Health Services. After that agenda item, the board is then to convene for a regularly scheduled meeting to address additional town business that includes appointing volunteers to committees, talking again about brown tail moths and considering a price hike at Mid-Coast Solid Waste. Corp. for demolition debris.

The latter concerns a proposal from the MCSW board of directors Chairman Owen Casas, who noted in a memo to MCSW member towns that there is a limited amount of space at the Rockport facility, which is jointly owned and operated by Camden, Hope, Lincolnville and Rockport. MCSW governs as a nonprofit.

As the closure date approaches for the landfill, within three to five years, there is simultaneously an increased volume of construction demolition debris arriving, “a good portion of which appears to be generated outside of four member communities,” wrote Casas, in his memo.

Mid-Coast Solid Waste directors are therefore asking for approval to increase the landfill fee from $100 per ton to $140 per ton, a move that requires consent from all four select boards of the towns.

“A fee increase should slow down the rate of CDD fill up so that our best management plan can be formulated,” wrote Casas. “That plan will incorporate additional thought on the fee schedule as well as policies that support a best management practice specific to our unique circumstances. While we know that the increase seems like a shock, the rate per ton simply brings us in line with surrounding CDD rates, with our current rate being low comparatively. We also feel that the increase will not have overly adverse effects on the average municipal taxpayer, whose tax dollars go towards funding operations on landfill management... and basically everything else we do. Weacknowledge that this change will affect certain commercial haulers, however we commit to keeping their needs in mind as we move forward.”

North East Mobile Health Services

The warrant for the special town meeting at 6 p.m., July 8, asks voters: “To see if the Town will vote to authorize the Board of Selectmen to enter into an agreement, not to exceed two (2) years, with North East Mobile Health Services to provide emergency medical and transport services in Lincolnville on such terms and conditions as deemed to be in the best interests of the Town by the Board of Selectmen.”

The signing of the contract with North East has been an arduous process as the four towns that currently contract with the Scarborough-based emergency medical response company have taken different viewpoints on whether they want to sign a one-year or two-year contract with the North East.

An exploration is underway, lead by Camden and Rockland, to see if there is an alternative ambulance model, one that is owned by the towns with the resources and equipment collectively shared.

Camden and Rockport have voted to sign one-year contracts while Lincolnville and Hope are leaning toward two-year contracts.

Lincolnville paid $54,464 for ambulance services with North East Mobile Health Services in fiscal year 2018-2019.

“It is proposed that the amount stay the same for the one year extension,” said Town Administrator David Kinney. “If we opt for a two year extension the year one amount still remains the same and the year two amount is the year one amount plus CPI (see paragraph 8 of the two year).”

The town voted at annual town meeting in June 2019 to expend the funds for one year.

“Article 2 of the Special Town Meeting warrant would allow the Board of Selectmen to commit the Town to second year,” said Kinney.

The Lincolnville contract addendum to incorporate terms for a two-year agreement, follows:

Addendum to Agreement by and Between the Town of Lincolnville and Northeast Mobile Health Services

WHEREAS, the Town of Lincolnville, a municipal corporation with a mailing address of 493 Hope Road, Lincolnville, Maine and North East Mobile Services (NEMHS), a Maine corporation with a mailing address of 24 Washington Avenue, Scarborough, Maine, previously entered into an Agreement for emergency medical services for the period from July 1, 2018through June 30, 2019 (“Agreement”);

WHEREAS, the term of that Agreement will expire on June 30, 2019; and

WHEREAS, the parties wish to extend the term of the Agreement for two years running from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2021, and incorporate some limited modifications to the existing agreement, as described herein.

NOW THEREFORE, the parties hereby agree, for valuable consideration, as follows to wit:

The first sentence in Section I entitled “Term” is hereby amended and shall be replaced as follows: “This Agreement shall be in force and effect for a period of Two (2) years commencing on July 1, 2019 and ending on June 30, 2021, unless earlier terminated by either party in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.”
Section XI(B) entitled “Liquidated Damages” is hereby amended to add the following sentence at the end of the first paragraph: “Prior to the imposition of liquidated damages, NEMHS shall be given written notice of the alleged default triggering liquidated damages, and shall thereafter have a fourteen (14) day period within which to cure said default, if possible; so long as NEMHS is diligently working to address the default and cure the defect, no liquidated damage penalties shall be imposed for up to a period of thirty (30) days at which time all defects and defaults described in the Notice of Default must be cured, if possible.”

Additionally, at the end of the last paragraph of Section XI(B) the following language shall be added in a new paragraph: “In the event that the Town terminates this Agreement without cause, the Town agrees to pay 80% of any remaining balance of subsidy owed by the Town, as liquidated damages to NEMHS, said payment to be made within sixty days of the date that the Town terminates the Agreement without cause. The Town acknowledges that NEMHS’s damages in the event of an improper termination arevery difficult to estimate accurately, and the liquidated damages set forth in this paragraph is a reasonable forecast of the amount necessary to justly compensate NEMHS for its losses.”

A new Section II(K) shall be added as follows:The Town agrees that the penalties, pursuant to this Section, assessed against NEMHS shall only be assessed to the extent that all 4 Towns remain under contract with NEMHS. The Town expressly agrees that, in the event any one of all 4 Towns is not under contract with NEMHS, the requirements set forth in this Section shall serve only as guidelines and goals, and that no penalties will be assessed or allowed against NEMHS under this Section. NEMHS agrees that it will negotiate with the remaining towns to set new penalties and or guidelines that are reasonable and achievable by NEMHS.
Applicability of Penalties
Section II(B)(1), labeled “Other Services (1) Mountain Rescue” will be deleted.
Section VI(B) labeled “Telephone and Radio Recording” shall be deleted. The TOWNagrees that these tasks are performed by Knox County Regional Communications Center for the purpose of 9-1-1 calls.
A new Section XIII (H) shall be added as follows:The provisions of this Agreement comprise all of the terms, conditions, agreements, and representations of the Parties and supersedes any prior agreement or understanding relating to the subject matter hereof. This Agreement may be amended or modified only by a written instrument executed by all parties.
Integration

A new Section XIII (I) shall be added as follows:If any portion(s) of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to conflict with any federal, state or local law, and as a result such portion(s) is declared to be invalid and of no force or effect in such jurisdiction, then all remaining provisions of this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and be construed as if such invalid portion(s) had not been included herein
Severability
The contract Price of the Agreement, Section III(B), is hereby amended to add:
Commencing as of July 1, 2020 the then effective contract price shall be increased (but not decreased) by an amount which shall reflect the increase, if any, in the cost of living during the previous 12 months by adding to the contract price an amount computed by multiplying the contract price by the percentage by which the level of the Consumer Price Index for The North East Region, as reported on July 1st of the new year by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor has increased over its level as of July 1st of the prior year.
Unless specifically displaced by the terms and conditions described herein, all other terms and conditions of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

The July 8 Select Board’s full agenda follows:

SPECIAL TOWN MEETING
July 8, 2019
6:00 PM @ Walsh Common, Lincolnville Central School

LINCOLNVILLE SELECTMEN’S MEETING
July 8, 2019
Immediately Following Special Town Meeting @ Lincolnville Town Office